Things to do in Recife
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Recife
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
The driest, sunniest stretch, with November typically the driest month. Best choice for a beach plus culture trip.
Hot dry summer with busy beaches, New Year parties, and Carnival in February or early March.
The shoulder turns, rain builds through March and humidity rises.
The rainy season, wettest in June and July. Beach days are a gamble, but Sao Joao lights up June.
Drying out, with the mildest temperatures of the year and good value before the dry season peak.
What's on
- Carnival and Galo da Madrugada Carnival Saturday, February or March
Free street Carnival in Recife and Olinda, opened by Galo da Madrugada, the world's largest carnival parade.
- Pre-Carnival in Olinda Sundays in January to Carnival
Bloco rehearsals and previas fill Olinda's lanes with the same music and puppets at a fraction of Carnival week crowds.
- São João All June, climax 23-24 June
June festivals of forro, quadrilha and corn foods, centred in Recife on Sitio Trindade in Casa Forte.
- Festa de Nossa Senhora do Carmo July
Festival for Recife's patron saint around the Basilica do Carmo, with processions in the centre.
Best things to do in Recife
Praça do Marco Zero
The colour painted founding square of Recife, facing the reef and the sculpture park, and the start of every old town walk.
Rua do Bom Jesus
Recife's prettiest street, a short cobbled row of painted colonial facades with cafes, bars and a Sunday craft fair.
Sinagoga Kahal Zur Israel
The first synagogue in the Americas, now a small museum on Rua do Bom Jesus covering Jewish life in Dutch Recife.
Paço do Frevo
A joyful museum for frevo, the brass and umbrella dance music Pernambuco invented, with Carnival costumes and live schools.
Museu Cais do Sertão
A modern interactive museum about the dry sertao interior and Luiz Gonzaga, in a converted port warehouse near Marco Zero.
Capela Dourada
The Golden Chapel, an interior covered in gilded woodcarving by Pernambuco masters, Brazil's baroque at full throttle.
Instituto Ricardo Brennand
A castle complex with a world class arms collection, Dutch Brazil paintings and sculpture gardens, plus capybaras on the lawns.
Oficina Cerâmica Francisco Brennand
Francisco Brennand turned a ruined tile factory into a vast erotic mythic sculpture landscape in jungle like grounds.
Where to stay in Recife
Boa Viagem
first trip, beach strip and walkable dining
The widest choice of hotels and restaurants, the promenade, and the airport 15 to 25 minutes away.
Pina and the Marina
repeat visitors, shoppers and culture heavy trips
Quieter than Boa Viagem, anchored by RioMar and the new marina facing Recife Antigo.
Olinda
romance, Carnival and repeat visitors
Colonial mansions and courtyard pools inside the historic town, quieter at night outside Carnival.
Think twice about
- Santo Antônio, São José and Boa Vista
The commercial centre empties after shops close, with visible street homelessness and a petty theft reputation at night. Visit by day only.
- Recife Antigo
Great by day and in Carnival, but quiet to deserted on many ordinary weeknights with few everyday services. Stay in Boa Viagem or at the Marina and visit.
- Piedade and Candeias
Far southern beach suburbs with the worst shark record on the urban coast, fewer services, and long traffic to everything else.
- Brasília Teimosa
A fishing neighbourhood with good daytime fish restaurants but no real visitor lodging. Do not base here or wander it at night.
Best restaurants in Recife
Restaurante Leite
Brazil's oldest restaurant, since 1882, with white tablecloths, a pianist and the city's most praised cartola dessert.
Oficina do Sabor
Olinda's definitive long lunch, creative Pernambuco cooking on a terrace on Rua do Amparo with a view towards Recife.
Ponteio Churrascaria
Recife's classic rodizio churrascaria, continuous skewers carved at the table with an enormous buffet in Boa Viagem.
Chiwake
Peruvian and Nikkei cooking by Biba Fernandes in Boa Viagem, Recife's most decorated date night dining room.
Entre Amigos O Bode
A lively local favourite built on goat and Northeastern meats, with big shareable plates in Boa Viagem.
Restaurante Tio Pepe
An old Boa Viagem favourite famous for generous Brazilian and seafood dishes that serve two or three.
Camarada Camarão RioMar Recife
Shrimp and seafood in big sharing portions at RioMar, a polished and reliable crowd pleaser in Pina.
Chica Pitanga
Recife's most praised kilo restaurant, an exceptional buffet of seafood and Pernambuco dishes under a pitanga tree.
Outdoor things to do in Recife
Praia de Boa Viagem
Eight kilometres of promenade for running and sunset walks, with reef pools for a shallow paddle only at low tide.
Centro Histórico de Olinda
A UNESCO listed hilltop town of cobbled lanes, pastel houses and baroque churches, climbed on foot to the Alto da Sé view.
Piscinas Naturais de Porto de Galinhas
Reef pools that become clear natural aquariums at low tide, reached by jangada raft for a snorkel with the fish.
Praia dos Carneiros
A palm backed beach of calm green water and a chapel on the sand, best done with the catamaran to pools and clay baths.
Ilha de Itamaracá
A laid back island day with the 1631 Forte Orange and a boat to the Coroa do Avião sandbar for a swim and grilled fish.
Catamaran Tours
A Capibaribe River cruise under five central bridges around the three old town islands, best at sunset.
Praia de Maracaípe
Porto's wilder surf beach, with schools, buggy runs and the river mouth Pontal for seahorse rafts and famous sunsets.
Praia de Calhetas
A small beloved cove between rocky headlands south of Recife, with clear water, beach bars and a local weekend feel.
Best hotels in Recife
Hotel Atlante Plaza
The beach strip's classic upscale address on the avenue, with sea view rooms and a breakfast locals praise.
Grand Mercure Recife Boa Viagem
The other beachfront upscale name, large rooms in the former Recife Palace building with pool and sauna.
Bugan Recife Boa Viagem Hotel - by Atlantica
A modern mid range tower near Praça de Boa Viagem with a rooftop pool, the value sweet spot of the strip.
ibis Recife Boa Viagem
The dependable budget play in Boa Viagem, small clean rooms among the restaurants on Domingos Ferreira.
Cosmopolitan Hostel
Recife's best known backpacker hostel in Boa Viagem, social and handy for finding day trip company.
Novotel Recife Marina
The city's newest upscale hotel at the marina facing Recife Antigo, with a rooftop pool and old town views.
Marante Plaza Hotel
A warm, long established Pina side house steps from the beach, with sea view kitchenette rooms and a rooftop terrace.
Pousada dos Quatro Cantos
A 19th century mansion inn by Olinda's Carnival epicentre, with a courtyard pool and decades of atmosphere.
Is Recife expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | R$450 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | R$950 a person |
| Splurge | R$2,100 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Piscinas Naturais de Porto de Galinhas: a few days ahead
- Praia dos Carneiros: a few days ahead
- Ilha de Itamaracá: a few days ahead
- Catamaran Tours: a few days ahead
- Caxangá Golf & Country Club: weeks ahead
- Restaurante Leite: a few days ahead
- Oficina do Sabor: a few days ahead
- Chiwake: a few days ahead
- Carnival and pre Carnival weekends fill Olinda pousadas and Boa Viagem hotels months ahead, at multiplied prices.
- Book Porto jangadas and Carneiros catamarans a few days ahead on the best low tide mornings in high season.
- Instituto Ricardo Brennand is closed Mondays, Paco do Frevo is closed Mondays, and Restaurante Leite is lunch only and closed Saturdays.
- Arrange Caxanga golf and private driver days in advance through the club or your hotel.
Is Recife safe?
- Treat Recife as a big Brazilian city: centre by day with awareness, and rideshares door to door after dark.
- Do not walk with your phone in your hand in the centre and markets; step inside a shop to check a map.
- Never swim at high tide, in murky water or beyond the reef on the urban coast. Obey shark signs and lifeguards.
- At Carnival use a front pouch, leave document originals in the hotel safe, and agree a meeting point with your group.
Recife travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Swimming off Boa Viagem beyond the reef is genuinely dangerous because of sharks, not a exaggerated warning.
- Unofficial walking tour touts around Marco Zero have a record of demanding more than the agreed price. Book a tour or walk yourself.
- Arriving at Porto de Galinhas after low tide on a holiday Saturday turns a world class pool day into crowds and disappointment.
- Confirm fish by weight and chair bundle prices at beach kiosks before you sit down.
Getting around Recife: public transport and more
- Use Uber and 99 rideshares for almost everything, door to door at night everywhere.
- Airport to Boa Viagem is about 11km and 15 to 25 minutes; Boa Viagem to Recife Antigo is 20 to 30 minutes off peak.
- Plan beach days around the tide table first, then book the transfer, for Porto, Carneiros, Itamaraca and Boa Viagem reef pools.
- Hire a car with a local driver for southern beach days rather than driving yourself.
Who Recife suits
| Solo travellers | OK |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Great |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Great |
Make Recife your trip
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